


Monthly Burdens

by AsagiStilinski



Series: PuzzleJune 2019 [6]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Established Relationship, Fluff, Full Moon, M/M, Shapeshifting, Transformation, Werewolf Bites, Werewolves, puzzlejune2019, puzzletransformation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-06
Updated: 2019-06-06
Packaged: 2020-04-12 03:16:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19123465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: Yugi is worried about his boyfreind's health, he seems to get sick around the same time every month but will never tell his partner what's going onNow Yugi is determined to find out for himself





	Monthly Burdens

**Author's Note:**

> Day 6 of Puzzle June- "Transformation"
> 
> Because it's always werewolves with me

Atem was miserable

He was _always_ miserable during this time of the month

He loved the full moon, ofcourse, because it provided him with more freedom than he could ever have any other time of month

True, he could shapeshift whenever he wanted, but only on the full moon did his primal instincts truly reach their peak, allowing him the ultimate shedding of his human worries and frustrations

Typically, when he shifted, he retained almost everything that he maintained as a human- every like and dislike, every attachment, every worry and fear and frustration....

But when he shifted on the full moon, it allowed some of his humanity to ease aside, his more primal, basic instincts rising to the surface and clearing his head for a wile

He was (usually) perfectly aware of what he was doing in that state and remembered most of it afterwards, he simply was alleviated of his typical human greivances

It made the misery he experienced before moonrise kind of worth it

Though make no mistake, Pre-Moon-Syndrome definitely sucked

No wonder people with uteruses complained about PMS so much...

He was in the midst of considering taking a hot bath, hoping that would ease the ache in his muscles, when his phone started to ring

Sighing quietly, he reached over to the nightstand, wincing at the ache that spread through every inch of his body, sinking into every single muscle...

_Ugh_

He couldn't wait for moonrise....

"Hello?" he croaked miserably into the phone

_"Atem? Are.. you ok...?"_

Well, "ok" was a relative term

"O-Oh I... I'm fine, partner," he promised weakly

"I'm just a bit under the weather, that's all,"

_"O-Oh, do you have a cold or something?"_

"Something like that yes," he replied softly, shifting a little to lay flat in the center of the bed as another wave of pain throbbed through his body, wincing and biting the tip of his tongue

_"I'm so sorry to hear that, I was just calling to check up on you, can I bring you anything? Some soup or something?"_

That sounded heavenly actually, but he couldn't accept, he couldn't let Yugi on his hairy little secret, atleast not yet...

"O-Oh no, that's really ok aibou, I promise, I might be contagious and I wouldn't want you to catch anything,"

_"Atem I'm a nurse, I'm around sick people all day, if I don't catch what **they** have, why would I catch what **you** have? I have hand sanitizer and stuff you know,"_

Ah damn.... he had forgotten about that little inconvenient detail...

"Still, I'm... I'm sure I'm not any fun at the moment, you wouldn't want to waste your night around me,"

_"Atem, we're boyfreinds, this is a relationship, not a casual playdate, neither of us can really be expected to be fun **all** the time, and there's nothing wrong with that, it's natural,"_

Ahh..... double damn....

Yugi was so compassionate and caring and loving, usually those were all great things, but in this particular case...

"Yugi really, I-"

_"Oh, I have to go, I'll talk to you later ok? Promise,"_

"Alright then... speak with you soon, partner,"

The line went dead, and Atem cursed under his breath

Well, hopefully Yugi would call back soon and Atem could come up with a better excuse to keep him at bay

As much as he wanted to see his partner, it wasn't worth risking Yugi's well-being...

 

~+~

 

Yugi felt bad for Atem

He hadn't meant to cut him off earlier, but there had been an emergency....

He knew Atem wouldn't be upset, he just hoped that the other man wasn't too sick

They had known eachother for a few months and been dating for the past couple of weeks, over that time Yugi had noticed that his boyfreind did tend to get a little touch of something once every several weeks

He was actually starting to wonder if he had some sort of autoimmune thing, or maybe just a weak immune system, it was never anything serious- well, not yet, to Yugi's knowledge- just little 24-hour bugs, but ... that was still a little too frequent for his liking

With his mind made up, he had come to the conclusion that he would pay his boyfreind a visit when he got off work, bearing the gift of homemade soup and some cheap trashy horror movies that should make his lover feel a bit more light-hearted, and then use this chance to examine him

Sure, he almost certainly wouldn't be able to draw anything conclusive about his boyfreind's health, but a quick little check up wouldn't hurt, he could atleast check off a few boxes, seeing if he had a fever or spots on his throat or- ...

Well, whatever he could sneak under Atem's nose, so to speak

He had a strange aversion to anything and everything related to the medical feild and it wouldn't be the first time that Yugi had been rebuffed by his lover when attempting something as simple as checking for a fever

Though on that end, Atem seemed to _always_ have a bit of a fever running, he always had such high body heat, kind of like a dog, it had concerned Yugi at first, but it never seemed to result in anything negative so he had quickly tried to push past his worries

Straightening out his jacket a little bit, he adjusted the messenger bag on his shoulder and shifted his picnic basket to his other hand so he could ring the doorbell, stepping back and waiting patiently for a response

The dog had started barking immediately, ofcourse, but much to Yugi's surprise, Atem didn't answer

Strange... Atem was usually so quick to answer the door that it made him wonder sometimes if he was psychic, even on unplanned visits he would answer within mere seconds of the doorbell ringing

So now for him to be waiting so long....

Concern was growing, so he tried ringing again

A quick glance into the garage showed him that Atem's car was still in place, and he could see lights on upstairs, Atem was obviously still home...

Biting his lip worriedly, Yugi rang the doorbell a third time and decided to try calling him

Maybe he was taking a bath or something and couldn't answer right away.....

But ... then again, Atem was also sick, and he had sounded so weak on the phone....

What if he had passed out or something? What if he _had_ been in the bath but fell on his way out and hit his head?

What if he was hurt or seriously ill?

His body heat wasn't the only thing about Atem that reminded Yugi of a dog, he had a tendency to hide when he wasn't feeling well, he was always oddly secretive about it, so he certainly wouldn't have told Yugi the truth if he really _was_ seriously ill....

By the time Yugi's phone call had gone to the answering machine, his mind was made up

Atem had shown him where he kept his spare key about a month back when Yugi had stepped out to get something from the car and accidentally locked himself out in the process, all he had to do was step into the garden, take the false bottom off of the gnome holding the kitten, and reach all the way inside to peel the key out of the top where it was currently taped in

....

It sounded like more of a process than it actually was

Once the key was in hand, he unlocked the door and stepped inside, noting with mild surprise that Sookie, the dog, was upstairs, locked behind the baby gate

Strange....

She was usually allowed free run of the house during the day, and the sun was only just starting to set...

Concern was growing, and Yugi slowly shut the door behind him, anxiety beginning to drip through his veins as he began looking around for his companion

"Atem?" he called out worriedly, but gained no response

"Atem!! Are you ok!?"

Still nothing....

Just as he starting for the stairs, however, he heard a noise downstairs in the basement

Eyes narrowed, he didn't even bother thinking for his own safety, instead he ran to the basement door and hurried down the stairs, noting that the lights were already on

"Atem!!"

There was his boyfreind alright, head down and body pressed up against another door...

Yugi wasn't sure where it lead, but now he was starting to grow frustrated with the amount of concern and lack of answers he was having to deal with

"Atem why aren't you answering me!? What's going on!?"

"Y-Yugi.... _run_..."

His voice sounded so strained, so quiet and pained... it only drew Yugi closer

"Atem-"

"RUN!!"

When Atem jerked his head up, Yugi suddenly had a full understanding of why his lover was so concerned for him

His eyes were an even brighter shade of red than usual, as if they were _glowing_ , his teeth sharp and pointed and his nails had begun growing into claws

"I'm .. not leaving you," Yugi finally determined, stepping forward as he watched shock flash across Atem's face

"Whatever is happening to you ... I don't care! I still love you Atem and I'm not going to abandon you!"

"Yugi please, you don't understand-" he gasped, suddenly lurching forward, likely in pain, and letting out a cry of agony

It only made Yugi more determined to help him

He set down his bag and basket quickly and ran forward, wrapping his arms around his lover in a tight, soothing hug

He hoped it would help

He had seen so many monster movies over the years, true love always broke through curses right?

"It's ok Atem, it's alright, whatever this is... we'll find a way to break the curse," he promised, smiling in releif as he felt his lover's arms slowly wrap around his form, hugging him back warmly

"It.... it isn't a curse, Yugi," he corrected quietly, much to Yugi's surprise

But before the smaller man could ask what he meant-

"It's a _blessing_ ,"

Yugi didn't have time to ask about that either, suddenly there was a sharp, seering pain in his neck as Atem's teeth dug into his soft, supple skin

Yugi screamed, but he could _swear_ that somehow, that scream was covered by the sound of wolves howling outside

 

**One month later**

 

"Would it help if I apologized again?"

Yugi opened his eyes slowly, sighing as he shifted onto his side, his entire body was aching, but thanks to the herbs Atem insisted he take, it wasn't as bad as it had been when he woke up earlier that morning

"You don't have to apologize sweetie, I know it wasn't your fault," Yugi said softly, reaching out and gently wrapping his hand around his lover's

His _mate's_

Ah, how lovely that was....

"Besides, now we're together forever, and it would have happened anyway right? If we wanted to get married... this was bound to happen,"

"I suppose," Atem sighed, handing his lover a bowl of chocolate ice cream

Because it really is true- chocolate _does_ make everything better, even Pre-Moon-Syndrome

"I still wish I had atleast given you some warning though... now your career is in jeopardy..."

"It isn't really, I'm getting used to the ah... extra senses... and I can work around having to take one day off every month," he noted with a shrug, though Atem still seemed fairly unconvinced as he crawled into bed next to his lover

"Besides, I should have known better than to approach you like that instead of taking the YA romance advice, I basically did what every idiot does who tries to get between a dog and food,"

"I suppose," Atem mumbled back, snuggling into Yugi's shoulder and sighing softly in contentment, his lover's scent was atleast helping to take the edge off a little

"After this, let's take a hot bath, by then it should be time to head out to the woods for your first shift, I promise you, this will all be worth it when you can run through the woods untamed, letting your human worries fall aside... it's marvelous,"

"I'll take your word for that," Yugi promised, snuggling up closer to his beloved

"Just promise me one thing ok?"

"Anything, aibou,"

"If there are any more secrets you're keeping from me that could potentially change my DNA, tell me now, alright?"

"You have my word, partner........................ you know about the pregnancy thing, right?"

"Excuse me the _what_ now?"


End file.
